Marathon Rating:
THE PLACE:
Vienna is one of my favorite cities in the world, although it might be hard for me to describe just why that it is. Maybe it’s due to the city’s extraordinary history as the seat of the long-reigning Hapsburg Dynasty. This was the family name synonymous with European royalty and politics for over 500 years, continuously occupying the throne of the Holy Roman Empire between 1438 and 1740 with Vienna as its imperial capital. The Hapsburgs wielded great power and enlarged their sphere of influence among Europe’s most important kingdoms, from Spain to the Netherlands, with strategic marriage agreements (the unlucky Marie Antoinette, for example, was a young Hapsburg princess married off to France’s Louis XVI to strengthen the alliance between Paris and Vienna). The family maintained its power, its military strength, as well as its elaborate court rituals, only to see it all crumble and dispersed after the empire’s defeat as part of the Central Powers in World War I, further reduced into a single, small post-World War II nation, for some years warily just out of reach of the former Soviet Union’s long shadow.
In Vienna, however, the Hapsburgs’ presence remains everywhere! Like a long-running opera, the opulent scenery of their medieval courts, baroque palaces, prancing horse stables, and fin-de-siècle gardens form a permanent backdrop for the entire city. And what a backdrop it is, particularly seen along The Ringstrasse, the circular 3.2 mile boulevard that Emperor Franz Joseph I put in place for his 19th Century bourgeoisie to parade along after he tore down the defensive city walls which once protected the medieval city core.
Of course, what also makes Vienna so intriguing is the extraordinary role it played throughout Western history as the launching pad for great minds and ideas that blossomed here in, not just one, but during several historical periods. In music, for example, Vienna was the unquestioned center of the universe that supported the careers of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Liszt, and Schubert in one era, and later those of Brahms, Strauss I and II, Schoenberg and Mahler, just to name a few. In Philosophy, there was Wittgenstein, in Art there was Klimt, and in the sciences and medicine, there were scores of famous names from doctors to economists, not to mention one interesting fellow named Freud, who changed everything with his modern theories of psychoanalysis.
The point is that — maybe more so than in other European capitals — Vienna gives you a sense that you’re looking through a window into a near, though lost, world. Much of it looks as it did centuries ago and you practically feel the energy of its interesting lives wherever you go; you can walk into Mozart’s living room and see the same view he saw looking out his window on a snowy night composing “The Marriage of Figaro”, or when you step into Sigmund Freud’s apartment, you can almost smell his cigar smoke as you walk around his book-laden study.
Maybe…it’s because of Vienna’s great food and local wine, fancy cream-filled tortes, Old World coffee houses, and cozy beer pubs?
Or, maybe it’s just the sheer amount of culture. As one of Europe’s long-standing cultural powerhouses, Vienna is loaded with things to see and hear at all times of the year. Besides the many theater and operas (I saw two excellent original musicals and also took in an opera at the magnificent Vienna Opera House when I was there), they say that on any given night in Vienna at least 10,000 people are in attendance of some type of classical music concert somewhere in town, ranging from small venues to the world-renowned Vienna Philharmonic and the Vienna Boys Choir.
Ultimately, maybe it’s because on top of all of this undeniable beauty, history, and culture, modern Vienna, with its efficient subway and streetcars, bike-friendly lanes, Prater amusement area, and miles and miles of public parks is consistently ranked for its high quality of life at the top of any “most livable cities in the world” list.
THE RACE:
Now…place a marathon into this mix and you get one fabulous destination and a pretty scenic course. In fact, in the year that I ran the Vienna Marathon, they had nicknamed the event the “theater of emotions”…a little clunky in translation, perhaps, but with 42,000 runners at the start (many of them doing the half marathon and some doing a four-person relay), one million spectators, and a course that efficiently shows off the city’s treasures at the height of spring with trees and flowers in full bloom, there actually is some level of theatricality to it, after all.
A good example of this applied Viennese theatricality is the pasta party held the night before the race. I had heard that this one was not to be missed if for no other reason than that it takes place inside the opulent Rathaus (Vienna’s over-the-top, gothic-revival City Hall). I’m really glad I went. In true Viennese style, the chandelier-lit great hall treated runners and their guests to a live string quartet, the music of which carried throughout the hall over casual conversations and architectural splendor. (Definitely not your typical pre-marathon pasta party!)
The next morning, the marathon start area was easily reached from the central city on the efficient metro in a few stops. From my hotel across from the opera house on the Ringstrasse, it took me no more than 20 minutes, point to point. Lining up at the Vienna International Centre (a building complex housing Vienna’s United Nations offices in the modern high-rise section of the city on an island in the Danube River), the race started out over the Reichsbrücke (bridge), making its way into the Prater park, and then running along the Ringstrasse until reaching the Vienna State Opera House. It then crossed the Wien River and headed out to the magnificent Schönbrunn Palace (the Hapsburg’s summer palace built to rival Versailles), passing through the delightful Mariahilferstrasse (a residential shopping street these days, but a pricey residential area at one time along which the likes of Haydn and Beethoven once lived). Finally, the race wends its way back through town to the Prater and then through throngs of cheering crowds on the Ringstrasse before triumphantly ending in front of City Hall Park.
All in all, both the destination and the marathon make for a perfect combination and, I would suggest, a memorable 4-5 day trip.
